CH-14 SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES AND DIGITAL CIRCUITS

ELECTRONIC DEVICES :- Any devices whose action is based on the controlled flow of electrons through it, is called an
electronic device.
The branch of physics which deals with the study of these devices is called ‘ELECTRONICS’.
TYPES:-
a. Vacuum tube devices ( Eg. vacuum diode valve, triode valve )
b. Solid state devices (Eg. p-n junction diode)
CLASSIFICATION OF SEMICONDUCTORS
a. Metals: They possess very low resistivity (or high conductivity)
𝜌 ~ 10−2 − 10−8 Ω𝑚
𝜎 ~ 102 − 108 𝑆𝑚−1
b. Insulators: They possess very high resistivity (or low conductivity)
𝜌 ~ 1011 − 1019 Ω𝑚
𝜎 ~ 10−11 − 10−19 𝑆𝑚−1
c. Semiconductors: They have resistivity or conductivity intermediate to metals and insulators.
𝜌 ~ 10−5 − 106 Ω𝑚
𝜎 ~ 105 − 10−6 𝑆𝑚−1
CLASSIFICATION OF SEMICODUCTORS:-
INTRINSIC SEMICODUCTORS: The pure semiconductors are called intrinsic semiconductors. Eg. 𝑆𝑖, 𝐺𝑒 𝑒𝑡𝑐.
EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS: The semiconductors obtained by adding or doping the pure semiconductors with small
amount certain specific impurities are called extrinsic semiconductors.
DOPING : The process of addition of desirable impurity to a pure semiconductors to increase its conductivity is called doping.
The impurity atoms are called dopants.
Holes: The vacancy of absence of an electron in a covalent bond is called a ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒. It is considered as a positive charge of
magnitude 𝑒. It is created by the removal of electron from a covalent bond. It has same mass as the (removed) electron.
METHODS OF DOPING:-
a. By adding the impurity atoms to extremely pure sample of molten semiconductors
b. By heating the crystalline semiconductors in an atmosphere containing dopant atoms.
c. By bombarding the semiconductors with the ions of dopant atoms.
TYPES OF EXTRINSIC SEMICONDUCTORS:-
a. n-type Semicinductors: when some pentavalent impurity atoms (antimony , phosphorus or arsenic) is added to a pure
semiconductor(𝐺𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑖), one excess electron is obtained on each impurity atom and electron density (𝑛𝑒 ) is
increased. A semiconductor obtained in such a way is called 𝑛 − 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 semiconductors.
b. p-type Semiconductors: when some trivalent impurity atoms (𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐴𝑙) is added to a pure semiconductor(𝐺𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑆𝑖),
shortage of one electron is obtained on each impurity atom and hole density (𝑛ℎ ) is increased. A semiconductor
obtained in such a way is called 𝑝 − 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 semiconductors.
VALANCE BOND MAODEL:
Valance bond model of Intrisic Valance bond model for Extrinsic semiconductors
semiconductor(𝑛𝑒 = 𝑛ℎ )

For 𝑛 − 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 semiconductors:- 𝒏𝒆 ≫ 𝒏𝒉

For 𝑝 − 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 semiconductors:- 𝒏𝒆 ≪ 𝒏𝒉
Energy bands in solid:- In an isolated atom, electrons have well defined energy values. But the atoms in crystal are close to
each other. So the electrons interact with each other. This interaction does not affect the energy levels of electrons in the inner
shells but the energy levels of electrons in the outermost orbit get modified and lie in a certain small range. The collection of
closely spaced energy levels is called the energy band.
The band formed by energy levels of valence electrons is called valence band. While that formed by energy levels of free
electrons is called the conduction band. The energy gap between the valence band and conduction band is called forbidden
energy gap.
Energy Band Model:-

IMPORTANT POINTS:-
 In metals or conductors the valence band and conduction band overlap i.e. there is no forbidden energy gap. In insulators
forbidden energy gap is greater than 3𝑒𝑉 exists. In semiconductors forbidden energy gap is less than3𝑒𝑉 (≈ 1𝑒𝑉).
 In metals conduction band is partially filled. In insulators its empty. In semiconductors there may be some electrons at room
temperature.
 Free electron lies in conduction band whereas a hole lies in valence band. When an electron goes from valence band to
conduction band, it creates a vacancy of electron in the valence band. That very vacancy is a hole.
 In 𝑛-type semiconductors, there exists a donor energy level. It lies just below the bottom of the conduction band. The energy
gap between donor energy level and conduction band is ≈ 0.01 𝑒𝑉. At room temperature, this small energy gap is easily
covered by thermally excited electrons. And therefore 𝒏𝒆 ≫ 𝒏𝒉 .
 In 𝑝-type semiconductors, there exists an acceptor energy level. It lies just above the of the valence band. The energy gap
between acceptor energy level and valence band is ≈ 0.01 𝑒𝑉. At room temperature, this small energy gap is easily
covered by thermally excited electrons. And therefore 𝒏𝒆 ≪ 𝒏𝒉 .
 The highest energy level in the conduction band filled up with electrons at absolute zero is called 𝐹𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 and the
energy corresponding to the Fermi level is called 𝐹𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦.
CONDUCTIVITY OF SEMICONDUCTORS:-
In semiconductors
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 + ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝐼 = 𝐼𝑒 + 𝐼ℎ
𝐼 = 𝑛𝑒 𝑒𝐴𝑣𝑒 + 𝑛ℎ 𝑒𝐴𝑣ℎ
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 𝐼 = 𝑒𝐴(𝑛𝑒 𝑣𝑒 + 𝑛ℎ 𝑣ℎ )
Solving the equation we get
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𝜎= = 𝑒(𝑛𝑒 𝜇𝑒 + 𝑛ℎ 𝜇ℎ )
𝜌

𝜎 = Conductivity of semiconductors; 𝜇𝑒 = Mobility of electron: 𝜇ℎ = Mobility of holes

IMPORTANT POINTS:-
 As the temperature increases, the mobility 𝜇𝑒 and 𝜇ℎ decreases due to the increase in their collision frequency.
 Due to the small energy gap of semiconductors, more and more electron from valence band go to conduction band.
 No. of charge carriers increases and therefore 𝑛𝑒 and 𝑛ℎ increase exponentially.
 The net effect of above variation is that conductivity increases or the resistivity decreases with increase in temperature.
 The mobility of holes is much less than that of electrons.
p-n Junction:- it is a single crystal of 𝐺𝑒 or 𝑆𝑖 doped in such a manner that one half portion of it acts as 𝑝 − 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 and other
half as 𝑛 − 𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒 semiconductor.

IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS:-

1. DIFFUSION CURRENT:- The diffusion of majority charge carriers across the junction gives rise an electric current from
𝑝 side to 𝑛 side, which is called diffusion current. Diffusion current is caused by majority charge carriers.
2. DEPLETION REGION:- The small region in the vicinity of the junction which I depleted off free charge carriers and has
only immobile ions is called depletion region.
3. POTENTIAL BARRIER:- The maximum potential difference created across an unbiased 𝑝 − 𝑛 juncton is called
potential barrier. It is created due to accumulation of negative immobile ions in the 𝑝 region and positive immobile ions in
𝑛 region.
4. DRIFT CURRENT:- the electric field developed bythe barrier potential is called barrier field. The electric field pushes the
electron towards the 𝑛 side holes towards the 𝑝 side. This current set up by barrier field from 𝑛 to 𝑝 side is called drift
current. Drift current is caused by minority charge carriers.
Working of 𝒑 − 𝒏 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
FORWARD BIASING:-A 𝑝 − 𝑛 juction is said to be forward biased, when the positive terminal of the external battery is
connected to 𝑝 region and the negative terminal to the 𝑛 region of the 𝑝 − 𝑛 juction.

Important Points:-
 In forward biasing effective barrier potential decreases to 𝑉𝐵 − 𝑉 (for 𝑉 < 𝑉𝐵 ) and hence energy barrier across the junction
decreases.
 The majority charge carrier begins to flow towards the junction and diffusion of electrons and holes takes place into depletion
region due to which width of depletion region decreases.
 The effective resistance across the junction decreases.
 When 𝑉 exceeds𝑉𝐵 , the majority charge carriers starts flowing easily across the junction set up a large current called
forward current.
 The electric field set up by external battery dominates the barrier electric field.

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REVERSE BIASING:- A junction diode is said to be reverse biased when the positive terminal of the external battery is
connected to 𝑛 regionthe the negative terminal to the 𝑝 region of the diode.

Important Points:-
 As a result of reverse biasing effective barrier potential increases to 𝑉𝐵 + 𝑉. And hence energy barrier across the junction
increases.
 The majority charge carriers move away from the junction due to which width of depletion region increases
 The resistance of the 𝑝 − 𝑛 junction becomes very large and no current flow due to majority charge carriers.
 But the reverse biasing pushes the minority charge carriers towards the junction setting a current called reverse current.
 Since the number density of minority charge carriers is very less therefore the current is very small.

DYNAMIC RESISTANCE:- It is defined as the ratio of small change in the voltage to the small change in the current.
∆𝑉
𝑟=
∆𝐼
𝑽 − 𝐈 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐒 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐄
FOR FORWARD BIASED:-
Important Features Of Graph
 Initially the current increases very slowly almost negligibly. But when the voltage crosses
a certain value the current increases very rapidly. This certain voltage is called cut-in
voltage. The value of cut in voltage for 𝐺𝑒 diode is 0.2 𝑉 and for 𝑆𝑖 diode is0.7 𝑉.
 After the cut in voltage the current increases very rapidly and very less resistance is there
across the junction
FOR REVERSE BIAS :-
Important Features Of Graph
 Initially the reverse bias voltage produces a very small current about a few microamperes
which almost remains constant with bias. This small current is called 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡.
 When the reverse current across the 𝑝 − 𝑛 𝑗𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 reaches a sufficiently high value, the
reverse current increases suddenly increases to a large value. This voltage is called
𝑏𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒. It ranges from 1 to 2𝑉.
CAUSE OF REVERSE BREAKDOWN:-
ZENER BREAKDOWN: This process occurs in heavily doped 𝑝 − 𝑛 junction
diode. Due to high dopant density, the width of depletion layer is very
small(10−7 𝑚). Therefore a small voltage set up a very high electric field which
strips off many electrons from the valance band. These electrons tunnels to the n
side through thin depletion layer. It gives rise to a large reverse current.
AVALANCHE BREAKDOWN:- This process occurs in lightly doped 𝑝 − 𝑛 junction
diode. As the reverse voltage increases from zero continuously, the kinetic energy
of electrons (minority charge carriers) may become high enough to knock out
electrons from semiconductors atoms. The newly generated electron hole pair also
causes ionization of semiconductor atoms. Thus a chain of collision is set up and
no. of charge carriers increases to a large extent. At this stage breakdown occurs
and current increases sharply.
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APPLICATION OF 𝒑 − 𝒏 JUCTION DIODE:
RECTIFIER:- The process of converting alternate current in to direct current called 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 and the device used for the
same is called 𝑅𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑟.
Working Principle:- an ideal 𝑝 − 𝑛 junction diode offers no resistance in forward bias and offers infinite resistance in the
reverse bias. Therefore when an ac signal is fed to it, the diode is forward biased during the positive half cycle but is in reverse
bias during the negative half cycle. Thus during positive half cycle p-n junction conducts but during negative half cycle it does
not conducts.
HALF WAVE RECTIFIER:- The circuit of a half wave rectifier is shown in the figure.

During the positive half cycle of an ac input, the p side becomes positive w.r.t. n side. Therefore the diode is forward biased and
conducts current in the circuit. Therefore output voltage appears across𝑅𝐿 .
During the negative half cycle the p side becomes negative w.r.t. n side.
Therefore the diode is reverse biased and does not conduct current in the circuit. Therefore output voltage is zero.
Thus only positive half cycle appears across 𝑅𝐿 and we do not output corresponding to the negative half cycle. And this is why it
is called a half wave rectifier.

FULL WAVE RECTIFIER:- The circuit of a full wave rectifier is shown in the figure.

During the positive half cycle of the input ac the point 𝐴 of the secondary coil is positive w.r.t. point 𝐵. This makes the diode 𝐷1
forward biased and 𝐷2 reverse biased. Thus 𝐷1 conducts current and 𝐷2 does not. Thus we get an output voltage across𝑅𝐿 .
During the negative half cycle of the input ac the point 𝐴 of the secondary coil is negative w.r.t. point 𝐵. This makes the diode
𝐷1 reverse biased and 𝐷2 forward biased. Thus 𝐷1 does not conduct current and 𝐷2 conducts. Thus we get an output voltage
across𝑅𝐿 .
It may also be seen that the direction of current in the 𝑅𝐿 is in the same direction for both the half cycles. Thus continuous
output is obtained across 𝑅𝐿 .
FILTER CIRCUITS:- The output obtained from rectifiers is unidirectional but pulsating. It may be considered the um of dc
component and ac component. A filter circuit is a device which removes ac component of rectified output but allows the
dc component to pass through it and to reach 𝑹𝑳 .
Need for filter
Even through the output of a rectifier is unidirectional, to does not have a steady value. To get, steady output, a capacitor is
connected across RL (the output terminals) (an inductor connected in series with RL or a suitable combination of L and C also
can be used) which function as a filter.

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Types Of Filter Circuits
1. Series Inductor Filter:- The inductor offers a reactance 𝑋𝐿 = 2𝜋𝑓𝐿. This
reactance is high for ac component and low for dc component. Therefore ac
component does not pass through inductor and low frequency dc
component is obtained across 𝑅𝐿 .
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2. Shunt Capacitor Filter:- The capacitor offers a reactance 𝑋𝐶 = 2𝜋𝑓𝐶.
Therefore it offers low reactance to the ac component and high reactance
to the DC component. The AC component is bypassed through 𝐶 and a
low frequency DC voltage is obtained across 𝑅𝐿 .